What I want to know is why are the fans and media over-hyping this young netminder so quickly? Yes, Varlamov had excellent statistics in the first round (4-2, 1.17 goals against average, .952 save percentage, and two shutouts) and yes, he helped his club advance to the next round. However, this was against a New York Rangers team that only took 145 shots against him, many of the low quality variety and against a team that virtually has no offense.

I’m not saying that he’s a bad goaltender nor am I saying that he doesn’t deserve the accolades that he is getting right now. What I am saying is let’s not over-hype this kid until he gets truly tested in the next round against a much tougher Pittsburgh Penguins hockey club. I doubt he’ll be seeing lo quality scoring chances against the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz, Sergei Gonchar, Bill Guerin, Jordan Staal, etc.

Good evening folks. For your reading pleasure, please check out the interview I did with Seth Rorabaugh, the Post-Gazette’sPittsburgh Penguins blogger.

Seth was kind of enough to take time out of his hectic schedule to tell us about how he got into hockey, how he got his start as a hockey journalist, his thoughts of the future of hockey blogs and his prediction on who this year’s Stanley Cup Finals representatives will be.